Plant Effects On Bioloads

[yhbae]

I know live plants are helpful in aquariums. I have them in just about every aquarium I own. Never really thought of it much because it is a no-brainer unless species I keep eat them.

Since then, I started writing an online bioload calculator and tried to figure out what would be the effect of plants on the bioload. Many many people have been suggesting that I should add this "feature". Yes, plants do absorb _some_ toxic chemicals excreted by fishes, including ammonia and nitrates. On the other hand, I also read that fishes produce plenty more toxic chemicals/toxins that are not absorbed by plants.

So here's my ultimate question - can you keep more fishes in planted tanks? If so, WHY?

I always thought of having plants as a safety net rather than a mean to increase the total bioload of my tanks. But I would gladly stand corrected if this is not the case.

 

[The Other Lebowski]

it's quite simple. plants can utilize and consume both ammonia as well as nitrates and nitrites. that's their contribution. and i would image they also produce oxygen. not to mention their physical function providing cover and recluse for fish. they also fight algae as they compete for the same kinds of nutrients.

 

[fire4ice]

According to Aqadvisor.com, my tank is 88% stocked with 104% filtration capacity. I just checked my water before doing my weekly 25% water change, and nitrate is 0ppm. The tank is lightly planted. Before it was planted, I only had about half as many fish, and nitrate would be 5-10ppm by water change time. So the plants seem to make a pretty big difference.

 

[The Other Lebowski]

if Aqadvisor.com tells you that you have a 104% filtration capacity, then in reality you are heavily overfiltered, probably at close to 400%. that could account for those zero nitrate levels.

 

[fire4ice]

if Aqadvisor.com tells you that you have a 104% filtration capacity, then in reality you are heavily overfiltered, probably at close to 400%. that could account for those zero nitrate levels.

Maybe, but the nitrate did still go up a lot higher without the plants

 

[OldMan47]

Wrong answer Lebowski. A filter will never remove any nitrate at all. Filters can hold enough bacteria to convert the entire bioload to nitrites and eventually nitrates but they do nothing to remove any nitrates, ever. The way we usually remove nitrates on the standard maintenance routine is by way of water changes.
There are other approaches of keeping a tank healthy, including the method described by Diana Walstad in her book. That method does not use a cycled tank and does not have a filter in it at all. It uses the nitrogen absorbing ability of plants to remove all traces of ammonia and use the ammonia as plant fertilizer. We seldom recommend that approach here because it is fraught with potential trouble that a new fishkeeper would be ill equipped to deal with. I use the method myself on some of my tanks and find that it works well but I will not encourage a new person to try it without first getting some experience under their belt. It is necessary to treat the plants and their welfare as being as important as most of think of a filter. That focus on the plants' well being is strange to most of our experiences and just dosing with fertilizers is not a good way to grow the plants. After all, the idea is that the plants use the fish waste as fertilizer because they must and by doing so it provides the nitrogen removal that the fish need. If you seriously want to try the method, spend the money to get the book, read it cover to cover and try very hard to follow her explicit instructions.

 

[jjkremp]

Wrong answer Lebowski. A filter will never remove any nitrate at all. Filters can hold enough bacteria to convert the entire bioload to nitrites and eventually nitrates but they do nothing to remove any nitrates, ever. The way we usually remove nitrates on the standard maintenance routine is by way of water changes.
There are other approaches of keeping a tank healthy, including the method described by Diana Walstad in her book. That method does not use a cycled tank and does not have a filter in it at all. It uses the nitrogen absorbing ability of plants to remove all traces of ammonia and use the ammonia as plant fertilizer. We seldom recommend that approach here because it is fraught with potential trouble that a new fishkeeper would be ill equipped to deal with. I use the method myself on some of my tanks and find that it works well but I will not encourage a new person to try it without first getting some experience under their belt. It is necessary to treat the plants and their welfare as being as important as most of think of a filter. That focus on the plants' well being is strange to most of our experiences and just dosing with fertilizers is not a good way to grow the plants. After all, the idea is that the plants use the fish waste as fertilizer because they must and by doing so it provides the nitrogen removal that the fish need. If you seriously want to try the method, spend the money to get the book, read it cover to cover and try very hard to follow her explicit instructions.

I thoroughly agree with oldman and as those levels increase your fish will well for lack of better term become lazy and want to eat less however if you have high levels nows the time to add that first live plant or increase for from past experience really helps the plant move in so to say nothing like taking a starving man to a buffet to kick things off so to say.
there is a way to have your aquarium to funtion perfect without filters and even heaters a total ecosystem completed however you must build up to it and if one wants to do it to save electricity from not using filters and heaters HA the lights and air pumps (plants breathe oxygen at night folks well 96% do in aquaria ) will raise it above that limit

one of my experiments

currently in process of building such system 20g right now every bottom is covered with mosses ferns walls other than FRONT covered with green algae driftwood, tree roots rotting providing food for the plants over a 1800 watts of daylight light bulbs (higher than full spectrum 5600k) however without cover plants to sit at the surface my heat loss is high but stays close to 72 gettin up there just off plants rot and lights